The American manufacturer of barrage munitions AeroVironment has signed an agreement with a Ukrainian company to localize the production of Switchblade 600 "kamikaze drones". However, this agreement has yet to be approved by the US government.
This was reported by «Мілітарний» following the Second International Defense Industries Forum (DFNC2).
"The American company AeroVironment has signed an agreement with a Ukrainian company to localize the production of Switchblade 600. The Ukrainian company is not named for security reasons," the statement said.
AeroVironment representative Brett Hash said that the cooperation will start with integration, namely, Ukrainian partners will be sent subsystem components, and later "more and more systems" will be localized and the complex will be improved.
This production has yet to be approved by the Biden government, so Ukraine and the United States are currently working on finalizing the agreement, which may take approximately nine months. The volume of future production is currently unknown.
The AeroVironment representative also noted that the company is working to simplify the operation of the Switchblade, taking into account the results of training that needs to be conducted directly in Ukraine.
Background The Switchblade is a tactical barrage munition designed to destroy the enemy by self-destruction. Switchblade is small enough to be carried in a backpack and can be launched from various land, sea and air platforms. There are two variants that differ in the maximum kill distance and warhead power - Switchblade 300 and Switchblade 600.
Author: Inna Mikhno